Thursday 30 March 2000

Pic of the day: Those were the days, my friend ... (wondering how many readers still remember Digital Research and the world before Windows)

I must admit that I was unimpressed. I guess this was partly because I ran it on a brand new machine, which also happens to run Windows like greased lightning. And an older machine would probably not have that much free disk space to play around with, forcing you to uninstall the programs you know work in order to try something you don't know.

BeOS is not just an alternate graphical user interface. It is an alternate operating system. One noteworthy effect of this is that it does not run the same programs, even if you still have the same machine. Your Windows or DOS programs will not recognize BeOS, so you have to buy brand new ones (except for a few freebies). And the selection is not quite in the same order of magnitude as you are used to for MicroSoft's system.

There may be something I have not discovered yet, after just a chance meeting with BeOS. I understand that it runs faster than Windows, when it has an application to run. And especially when multitasking. But I still suspect that this, like other marginal programs, will mostly appeal to those who have an emotional dislike of MicroSoft. I am not one of those, quite the opposite.

This may cry out about my age, but I do not think of MicroSoft as the evil empire of computing. That place is reserved for IBM, in my heart. And MS is my hero for taking on the evil giant and saving the day. (Though they certainly did not slay the old dragon ... IBM's software division is still larger than all of MicroSoft.)

I remember the era of CP/M, an operating system trying to unify the scattered fiefdoms of personal computing. At that time, each personal computer brand had its own disk format, if it used disks at all and not tapes. The CP/M was starting to change that, slowly. But before the kingdom could be unified, IBM launched its Personal Computer. Suddenly PCs were not just for wild-haired young engineers. The IBM brand name rushed them into business, somewhat to the bemusement of IBM it seems. The operating system was made by the small upstart company MicroSoft, or rather they reverse engineered another quick and dirty operating system, or so the legend says. The legend also says that all this happened because the boss of Digital Research had preferred to go flying (or hanggliding or some such) instead of meeting with the folks from IBM. Anyway, events were set in motion that grew like an avalanche, changing the fate of humanity forever.

For some reason, IBM allowed competitors to build compatible machines and even released pretty detailed specifications. These "clones", as they were called, were not allowed to run the genuine PC-DOS operating system; but MicroSoft made available versions for each of them, using the same disk format and the same system calls as in PC-DOS. These operating systems were called MS-DOS. And with this compatibility, the clones grew and grew, offering more value for money than the original. Eventually they started to crowd out IBM, except for the niche of elderly people who only knew one brand name in computers, namely IBM. Lucky for IBM, some of these elderly men were CEOs in large corporations.

Eventually the empire struck back, proudly presenting a superior brand of PC called the PS/2, and its matching operating system, OS/2, which did windows and multitasking. At this time MicroSoft had already launched several pathetic versions of its Windows graphical user interface, which was strikingly similar to a a couple earlier such GUI, most notably it was somewhat similar to Apple's MacIntosh, a pricey but userfriendly machine. While Windows was clarly inferior, it also ran on cheap PC clones. The following boom in Windows sales may have created the breach between IBM and its subcontractor MS.

Whatever the reason, IBM went alone with OS/2 after a while, and it also made sure no one could make clones of the PS/2 machines. They trusted the customers to drop the clones and follow the leader. But the days of their monopoly was over. The customers followed the clone makers and the freedom of choice. They were free to choose any cheap PC they wanted. Incidentally, these all ran the same operating system and increasingly the same graphical user interface, both from MicroSoft. Monopoly through diversity.

So basically MS took us from monopoly in both hardware and software to monopoly in software and free choice in hardware. For this they ought to be given a medal, in my humble opinion. Just like Mikhail Garbachov got the peace prize for dismantling the communist block, even though he continued to rule a communist Russia. It was a step in the right direction, and a step that very few others could have taken.

Incidentally, I also like to shop in places that have not allowed Coca Cola to pressure them into dropping all competitors. Whatever the truth about Coca Cola's "accidents" to labor union activists, there is no doubt that they have used their market position to twist the arms of several grocery and fast food chains, telling them to boot out Pepsi and other competitors, or else. This makes me feel particularly bad about never buying Coca Cola for myself. (There is also the small detail that Coca Cola tends to make me sick, but the two might be related.)

Today after closing time, I went across the street and bought myself a big bottle of Pepsi. Not that I think they would have done differently if they had the market muscle; but they don't.

I don't use Netscape, though. I use Opera, the small and fast browser. Now in beta of version 4. I use the first released beta, and it is already quite stable. Why don't you try it too? Join the revolution! :) (They were also working on a BeOS version, though I have not checked that out.)